1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to games of chance, more specifically, to a form of poker-type game that lends itself to being played as a probability type game.
2. The Prior Art
There are a number of non-casino games of chance where winners and losers are determined immediately or almost immediately after the wager is made. Such games include scratch tickets, pull-tab tickets, and keno. With scratch and pull-tab tickets, the player buys the ticket and either scratches spots or opens tabs according to the instructions for the ticket. The player knows immediately whether she is a winner or not. However, the player has little choice in what locations to scratch or open. For example, if the game being played is poker-based, the player will not be able to choose from all of the possible 52 cards because there is limited space on the ticket. This means that tickets are predetermined to be winners or losers.
Probability tickets are different in that every ticket has the potential to be a winner. There are a number of spots to scratch and the player chooses some of them, as indicated by the rules. However, the player still does not have a choice of all 52 cards.
In keno, the player chooses numbers up to a maximum, for example, choosing 10 numbers between 1 and 80. The more numbers that are matched, the greater the payout. Variations include allowing the player to select a variable number of numbers, for example, between 1 and 15 number. When run by a state, the winning numbers are drawn periodically during the day, such as every 15 minutes, and players who have chosen their numbers prior to the drawing participate. Players find out quickly whether they win or lose and then the cycle starts over again.
An object of the present invention is to provide a game played with poker-type rules in which every game can be won.
The basis of the game of the present invention is that a player chooses a predetermined number of cards from a set of cards and uses the randomly-selected card values later revealed for the player-chosen cards to form a hand that is compared to a set of winning hands, where a wager may be placed on the outcome. Payouts are generally determined by the odds of getting a particular hand. Optionally, the player may be permitted to choose more than one hand to play in a game. In one embodiment, the player must use all of the cards chosen. In another embodiment, the player is allowed to reject chosen cards and choose others to total the predetermined number of cards.
The player chooses cards from a display of a set of unique symbols, a symbol for each card of the set from which the predetermined number of cards are chosen. The display may take the form of a choosing grid of locations, where each location represents a card. How the player chooses the locations and how the choosing grid is displayed depends upon the medium on which the game is played. Having the ability to select from all cards in play means that the player has the potential to win every game, which is unlike other games that preselect a subset of the total number of possible cards for the player to choose from.
The cards chosen by the player may be indicated in the choosing grid or may be showing in another grid, the playing grid. The card values may be revealed in the choosing grid or on the playing grid, if there is one.
The present invention contemplates that the game may be played on a variety of media, including scratch or pull-tab tickets and electronic media, such as public and private video systems, and stand-alone video machines, such as personal computers and hand held game machines. With scratch ticket""s, the card values are randomly selected prior to printing, and the player makes her choices by scratching the chosen cards in a grid. In public video systems, players typically make their choices by marking slips of paper or by keys or touch screens at a location remote from the controller. The choosing grid is displayed on a public video screen or matrix of video screens visible to the players at the remote location. With private standalone machines, the grid is displayed on the player""s private video screen and the player""s choices are made using keys or a touch screen.
Other objects of the present invention will become apparent in light of the following drawings and detailed description of the invention.